We are all by now familiar with the three act structure: man is healthy, man becomes mentally ill, man recovers and lives stably ever after. While such narratives rally hope for recovery amidst the myth that diagnoses such as schizophrenia are inherently violent, degenerative and bleak, there is an opening for a different kind of story, whereby healing takes place outside of linear and institutionally sanctioned narratives.
The Octopus Man shares the story of Tom, a former law student who hears the voice of Octopus God Malamok, and grapples with a society that demands him to conceptualise his reality as severe chronic illness. From the outside, Tom is diagnosed with schizophrenia and is dependent on his sister to help him manage day-to-day practicalities. Yet Tom has a vibrant inner life and sense of purpose that is threatened when he’s pressured into taking an experimental drug that offers to permanently suppress the very voice that imbues his life with meaning.
The book evokes the spirit of the psychiatric survivor and Hearing Voices Movements which are gaining traction in the UK and globally, the latter of which considers voice hearing to be a nonpathological phenomenon or response to trauma that people can learn to cope with; a spectrum of human experience that can even enhance the lives of voice hearers (Escher and Romme, 2011). While
The Octopus Man is layered with nuance and never attempts to push a political agenda, the protagonist himself is politicised after spending 20 years being bullied by the mental health system, sectioned, and forced to take a myriad of medications with often devastating side effects. We’re introduced to Rashid, a psychiatric nurse who swings between a false kindness to outright abuse, including sleeping with a patient and administrating harsh antipsychotic injections out of vindictiveness. Yet we are drawn into the perspectives of all characters, including psychiatrists, fellow patients, parents of girlfriends and family members. Particularly poignant is Tom’s relationship with his sister Tess who has stood by him in madness, lucidity, and the complex and beautiful in-between, a bond that reminds us that affliction is not only contained within individual minds but interacts within a social network, often taking its toll on those we love and rely on the most.
After succumbing to the drug trial, Tom falls into the lauded arms of biomedical recovery, a return “to ordinary life, to normality—the consensus perversion (p 313).” The world here is sapped of colour, a stable yet meaningless road of navigating benefits, bad dates and medication regimes, and determining how to afford and prepare a bowl of pasta on PIP with a heavily sedated brain. Compared to the vibrancy of his life as a voice-hearer, when a walk in the forest satiates all senses with beauty, Tom explains his so-called improved life: “I cannot enter these woods as before. I am a ghost now, and cannot share its life (p 200).”
Gibson began researching the book by compiling the notes and journals of his cousin who lived with the diagnosis of schizophrenia and mysteriously died at age forty. The character of Tom is informed by Gibson’s cousin but not a depiction, allowing for greater creative liberty and for Tom’s story to unfold on its own terms. Gibson also consulted renowned voice-hearer Jacqui Dillon, Chair of the National Hearing Voices Network in England, who shares a snapshot of her journey in the book
Living with Voices. Dillon asserts that the plethora of voices she hears are her mind’s creative coping strategy to surviving horrific childhood abuse, “a perfectly natural, human response to devastating experiences” (p. 190). Psychiatry’s attempt to pathologise an understandable response to abuse was deeply damaging to Dillon, who eventually learned to engage and collaborate with her voices rather than suppress them, finding deeper meaning and self-understanding in the process. On May 19 th, Dillon and Gibson joined forces to present at a ISPS UK and Hearing the Voice, Durham University webinar, hosted by Angela Woods, to discuss the ethics and impact of telling stories that reframe and humanise the experience of psychosis and voice-hearing. A recording of their discussion can be accessed here.
Gibson asks us to consider what is lost when the “symptoms” of those engaged in alternate realities are fully suppressed, and how the experience of voice hearing can lead to a deeply connected and more compassionate life. Tom’s struggle is by no means romanticised—the presence of Malamok can be disturbingly cruel and punishing. Yet the constant battle between Tom and those who try to persuade him that the voice he perceives isn’t real is a losing one, as for Tom the voice is as tangible and life-affirming as the ground beneath his feet. With the help of flight-risk Missy, a fellow survivor of psychiatry who chooses to accept and even interact with the voice of Malamok, Tom eventually learns a way of coping with the voice until he is no longer controlled and overtaken. Tom decides he can neither deny nor be consumed by the voice, for “though neither protest or defiance is the answer still I must find progress (p 308),” navigating his relationship with the Octopus God so they can both develop and move forward into a rich and purposeful life.
References
Escher, S. & Romme, M. 2011.
The Hearing Voices Movement. New York, NY: Springer New York. Gibson, J., 2021. The Octopus Man. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson. Corsens, D., Dillon, J., Escher, S., Morris, M., Romme, M. 2009. Living With Voices. Monmouth: PCCS Books, Ross-on-Wye. Robyn Thomas is completing her MSc in Global Mental Health and Society at the University of Edinburgh, researching the potential of transformative growth after psychosis. Robyn is an award-winning filmmaker who combines storytelling with mental health advocacy. Twitter @MzRobynThomas.


By 2023, the IoT industry is predicted to reach $1.1 trillion. As the Internet of Things (IoT) develops, the only logical next step is for organizations to connect these systems with advanced audiovisual technologies. These two technologies coalesce to deliver complete connection and connectivity between devices. Currently, there are over 8.4 billion connected devices within the “internet of things”, but most of these devices are owned by companies, not consumers.
Technology once meant updating a few displays, but today, the connectivity enabled by IoT devices adds a level of complexity to these changes. As industries become more competitive, consider integrating IoT devices within your existing AV infrastructure to experience benefits such as reduced operating costs, increased productivity, and enhanced communication between colleagues.
What is the Internet of Things?
If you’re familiar with up-and-coming technologies, you may have heard about the Internet of Things (IoT), which is a network of physical objects that are equipped with technologies which enable these devices to exchange data with other devices using the internet.
The IoT is undoubtedly one of the most revolutionary technologies to emerge during the 21st century. The IoT empowers physical objects with the ability to communicate with processes, people and other objects through the utilization of internet-embedded devices. As a result, organizations in all industries can use the IoT to share and collect data from different devices with little to no human interaction.
Although the underlying concept for the IoT was conceived in 1999, this technology did not begin to resemble its current form until about 2010. These technological advancements ensure that the IoT is accessible to large and small organizations:
Improved access to inexpensive, energy efficient sensor technology.Initially, many naysayers speculated that the IoT would require vast amounts of financial and energy resources. However, accessible sensors ensure that IoT technology is readily available for many companies. Cloud computing platforms.The widespread adoption of cloud computing platforms allows businesses and consumers to scale IoT infrastructure without managing the data themselves. Machine learning and analytics.Developments in machine learning and analytics allow organizations to obtain insights faster than was previously possible. These technologies uphold a symbiotic relationship with the IoT. As machine learning technologies advance, they allow the IoT to expand. Meanwhile, the data obtained from the IoT gradually enhances machine learning. Conversational artificial intelligence (AI).Rapid advancements in neural networks enable natural-language processing within the same IoT devices that many consumers have in their homes. This may include digital personal assistants, such as Alexa.
Integrating the IoT within your office is quite simple, and can bring great benefits to your organization when used properly. Upon integrating this innovative technology, CEOs, employees and stakeholders will benefit from streamlined workflows, increased productivity, and enhanced communication.
How Does the IoT Relate to AV Technology?
The IoT may appear complex, but this technology is relatively easy to use. The primary connection between the IoT and AV technology is the ability to facilitate communication between devices through the utiliziation of high-quality sensors. We can see this manifest in our daily lives via alarm systems, smartwatchs, lighting, video display units and more as these devices grow increasingly interconnected with one another.
Just as the IoT allows devices to communicate, AV technology allows humans to connect with each other. As the IoT develops, organizations are integrating these new technologies into their existing AV systems. In doing so, these companies are able to create dynamic, engaging AV experiences for in-office and remote participants.
A prime example of integration between AV technology and the IoT are beamtracking microphones, because they respond to their environment with limited human interaction. A beamtracking microphone swivels as the speaker moves throught the room to ensure clear audio. If the speaker changes their volume or background noise increase, beamtracking microphones can sense these changes and adapt immediately.
However, beamtracking microphones could not function properly without the support from other devices, which means that it is constantly collaborating and communicating these technologies to ensure optimal performance.
Cybersecurity and the IoT
As the IoT grows in popularity, organizations become increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks. Although most organization leaders understand the importance of protecting their internet-connected computers from viruses and cyber attacks, IoT security remains relatively new and is often overlooked.
In the past, devices without general-purpose computing operating systems were thought to be less vulnerable to a cyberattack. However, the utilization of cloud services comes with inherent risks that organizations must consider when bringing the IoT to the workplace.
Fortunately, there are softwares organizations can install to mitigate data breach risks. For instance, Creston’s XiO Cloud ensures that integrating the IoT with your existing AV infrastructure is seamless from start to finish. And since the XiO Cloud is built on the Microsoft Azure Platform, you can rest assured that organizations sensitive data is highly protected, because it is one of the highest quality security frameworks currently available.
It is vital that all members of your organization continue to follow strict cybersecurity protocols to ensure compliance with data protection and privacy requirements. Ensure that all physical locations are physically secure and protected by the proper software. Furthermore, it is of the utmost importance that you work with audiovisual integration specialists to continuously monitor your system. They will also ensure that your entire digital infrastructure remains up-to-date and safe from lurking security threats.
Step Into the Future with Applied Global Technologies
The Internet of Things is here to stay, and organizations that fail to adapt will lose their competitive edge in uncertain times. In contrast, industry leaders stay ahead of the curve and thrive on change.
AV technology empowers organizations by facilitating effective collaboration and communication and enhancing productivity. If you’re ready to experience the benefits of a modern workplace, seek assistance from AV professionals and bring your vision to life.
At Applied Global Technologies (AGT), we offer a wide range of AV solutions designed to improve workplace productivity. Our team has the tools and expertise to help your business make the most of its shared office space.


Sermon: Evensong - 24 July 2016 Preacher: Date: Sunday 24th July 2016 Venue: Lady Chapel Service: Evensong (said with hymns) Readings: Deuteronomy 30: 11-end Mark 5: 21-end
According to the
Surrey Advertiser, Guildford has been invaded - by Pokémon.
Stag Hill is fruitful territory for those collecting Zubats, Drowzees, Raticates, Spearows and even a Meowth.
If this makes no sense, let me take a step back. Pokémon Go is a mobile app - an updated version of a video game which was popular in the 1990s (which passed me by at at the time). The aim is to seek out, catch and train animated creatures - whose names echo their real world equivalents.
So far, so unremarkable you might think; but as an augmented reality game, Pokémon Go enables players to interact within and between virtual and real worlds.
Dotted across our town are Pokéstops where you can collect items needed to play the game. There are five within the cathedral precincts! All around us there are virtual fluttering leaves, indicating the proximity of Pokémon.
People of all ages are going on walks; discovering new landmarks; becoming tourists in their own neighbourhoods. If you see groups gathering gazing at their phones, flicking seemingly invisible objects, perhaps you've come across a Pokémon Gym where characters can compete and test their strength.
In the cathedral office, on the university campus, at the station, in the supermarket car park, along the river, outside the Friary Centre... commuters, teenagers, lay clerks, shoppers and even a Canon can be spotted building their collections.
So, whether you're an active participant or not, we can't help noticing that it is having an impact on our public landscape. It's an individual pursuit; but it generates informal gatherings, People literally congregate - attracted by animation breaking into reality.
It's no accident that the launch was timed with the end of term. It might seem trivial, but I wonder what else is going on.
Is there a longing for playfulness amidst the bewilderment of political upheaval? There's something nostalgic as well as innovative, a harking back to childhood. Is it good that people of all ages are exploring their local neighbourhoods on foot? Yet it's also disconcerting that this is in done whilst inhabiting a parallel universe, cut off from reality
On Friday evening, there were more people in and around the cathedral seeking out Pokémon than there were watching our glorious peregrine falcons. How do we communicate that this place is
more than just a Pokéstop but somewhere of welcome, beauty, inspiration and worship?
Today we recall that, like James the Apostle, we are to witness to the good news of Christ with joy and boldness; we are to draw people to the fire of God's love. As we come to terms with the allure of augmented reality, we are called to explore a life that is more real.
Life that
is life. Life that is about experiencing every moment, every conversation, every task, every meal more deeply; experiencing them as opportunities to glimpse something of God's grace, mercy, and love in the ordinary.
In a world of Pokémon, we see that human beings are entranced by something more; yet, we know such games will go out of fashion, leaving a void waiting to be filled with some other fad or activity. Perhaps this game has slowed down the pace of our experiences, encouraging us to wait patiently and pay attention to what's going on around us.
Of course the paradox is that paying attention to the virtual world may mean we miss the real human need or possibility of encounter with God. How to enable people to walk into, rather than past, the children's garden - to take time to pause, reflect, rest and pray? Perhaps we hope that being there will arouse curiosity that it's a place which is more than just a Pokéstop.
This is where the challenge of our texts cuts across the Pokémon phenomenon. Ultimately, it isn't life giving. However much fun it is, it's short-lived. It doesn't satisfy or transform; it's playful without generating kinship. It is a worldly false attraction, or in the words of our collect a 'worldly and carnal affection'.
James' life, work and context was by no means devoid of such claims on our attention either. He demonstrated a radical and single-minded devotion to walking with Jesus. He left his father, livelihood, friends, all that he had and all that was familiar. He walked the land with Jesus; he visited sacred sites. This
was not augmented reality in the way that Pokémon is. It was augmented in the experience of the nearness of God's Kingdom in ordinary, full of love, life and hope.
James followed Jesus in some of the most intimate moments of his ministry - glimpsing glory, restored hope and renewed life. He was there when the crowd wanted to hear more and see more; when they sang hosanna and when they cried crucify. Called by name, he saw his Lord betrayed by a kiss; re-called by the power of the Spirit, he gave his life witnessing to Jesus' resurrection.
Perhaps James continued to reflect on the episode we heard tonight. Perhaps like him, we sense the desperate need and extraordinary hope of Jairus and an unnamed woman. One falls to his knees, begging repeatedly in public; he's articulate, determined and trusting. One reaches out to touch, wordlessly placing her trust in him; in her determined '
if only'.
One watched a precious child fade from health and vitality; one had endured alienation, pain and worsening health. And Jesus goes with the one; he turns towards the other. His power brings peace and healing, he publicly acknowledges her unspoken faith. His power cuts through wailing, weeping and mocking laughter. In a private, tender moment he restores a daughter's life; he doesn't court amazement, but simply instructs others that this 12 year old girl must eat.
Jesus met people where they were. Unlike the Pokémon player, he isn't capturing them with a triumphant 'Gotcha'. Rather he frees them - allowing the grace of God to work through the dignity of human agency. He makes them whole - and draws them into the Kingdom. This is the augmented reality we are called to inhabit.
For many, this place is just another Pokéstop: a place to pick up the items we need to seek out, attract, find and capture elusive virtual creatures. But it is more than that.
For us, and for our world, this place is where we can learn what is real.
Where we can sink to our knees in longing and distress; where we're restored, forgiven healed; where we find new and deeper bonds of kinship; where we can learn to pray in words; where the Spirit sighs within us wordlessly; where we explore the creativity of solitude; where we can playfully and imaginatively be drawn into the good news; where that God was in Jesus Christ reconciling the world to himself.
Even now, his call on us to love is very near to us: on our lips and in our heart.
This is the augmented reality of which the book of Deuteronomy bears witness: love God, walk in his ways, choose life. We are to love, obey and hold fast to God's faithfulness.
Choose life.


A wall structure can be considered “pathologically humid” when its water content is greater than 3% of the weight of its materials. When the wall is unable to dispose of the water present in its constituent materials on its own and in an adequate quantity. When there are significant quantities of salts in solution, of different origin and nature. When adverse environmental conditions are present, or recurring(for example, alternations of “freeze-thaw” cycles, capable of causing secondary alterations in the states of equilibrium).


Experiencing cough or colds may not sound severe, pero nakakatakot pa rin since coughing is one of pneumonia’s biggest symptoms. However, coughing in pneumonia (viral or bacterial) is different from your regular cough. In this article, we explore how you can tell:
Are you experiencing dry cough or are you coughing up phlegm? If the latter,observe the amount and color of your mucus. Pag konti lang ang amount, that can usually indicate the presence of viral pneumonia. If your phlegm is thick and green-colored, most likely bacterial ang pneumonia.
Aside from coughing, viral pneumonia is accompanied with low fever, chills,muscle aches, fatigue, and sore throat. Bacterial pneumonia naman is accompanied with high fever, shortness of breath, rapid breathing, abdominal pain, and severe fatigue.
If you’re a smoker or have a history of chronic lung disease, brain disorders, or other serious illnesses such as heart disease or diabetes, you may be at a higher risk for getting pneumonia.
When in doubt, always talk to your doctor. Pneumonia is a deadly disease but it can be avoided with proper care, prevention and early treatment. Stay healthy and safe!


Different perturbations of the brain’s delicate functioning, ranging from transient pharmacological interventions to severe trauma, can result in altered states of consciousness. To illuminate how the neurobiology and organization of the human brain support consciousness, we need to identify changes in brain function that accompany alterations in conscious state. However, the brain is a paradigmatic example of a complex system, raising the question: which aspects of its complex functioning and architecture should be the focus of our investigation? Traditionally, the quest for the “neural correlates of consciousness” has been framed in terms of spatial localisation: which brain regions are most relevant for consciousness? Complementing this extensive body of work, in my thesis I consider three alternative ways of conceptualising brain function (quantified from functional MRI), and how it may support consciousness. First, I adopt a time-resolved perspective, decomposing brain activity into predominantly integrated or segregated patterns of dynamic functional connectivity. Building on my previous work in anaesthesia and disorders of consciousness, I show how the dynamic interplay of functional integration and segregation is reshaped by the classic serotonergic psychedelic, LSD. Second, I consider a frequency-resolved perspective, decomposing functional brain activity into patterns of structure-function coupling across scales: the harmonic modes of the human connectome. This “connectome harmonic decomposition” of brain activity reveals a generalisable neural signature of loss of consciousness, whether due to anaesthesia or brain injury. A mirror-reverse of this harmonic signature characterises the altered state induced by LSD or ketamine. Connectome harmonics provide a robust indicator of consciousness across datasets, correlating with physiological and subjective variables. On the theoretical side, neuroscientific theories postulate that consciousness depends on the integration of information by a “global workspace” of brain regions. However, these accounts treat “information” as a primitive, whereas the recent framework of information decomposition has shown that Shannon information is actually a composite of several more fundamental kinds of information, including synergistic information, which is available only when a set of sources are considered jointly, and redundant information, which is available from multiple individual sources. Demonstrating the importance of disentangling these different kinds of information, I develop a framework for information-resolved analysis of brain activity, based on information decomposition. Combining functional and diffusion MRI, PET, and transcriptomics, I show that higher cognitive systems in the brain leverage the efficiency of synergistic information, whereas redundant interactions are predominantly associated with modular, structurally-coupled sensorimotor systems. Finally, by explicitly taking into account these fundamental kinds of information, I formalise the “global workspace” architecture in information-theoretic terms, revealing that both anaesthesia and disorders of consciousness induce a breakdown of synergistic integration in the brain’s Default Mode Network. Conceptually, these results contribute to reconciling two prominent theories of consciousness, the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory and Integrated Information Theory. Overall, viewing the brain as a time-, frequency-, and information-resolved complex system offers fruitful new ways to understand the brain’s functional architecture, laying the foundations to map the rich landscape of human consciousness.


As the FCC (News - Alert) moves toward the expected release of a network neutrality order in early 2015, a similar debate has been taking place in the European Union over the past several months. In April 2014, EU lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a resolution aimed at restricting Internet service providers from charging third parties for faster network access. However, the resolution requires the consent of the EU’s Council of Ministers before it is formally passed into law.
Since April 2014, a number of parties and politicians have argued against the measure, claiming that it would hinder innovation in the digital market. In December 2014, German Chancellor Angela Merkel weighed in, stating that telecommunications providers should be allowed to offer “special services” (
i.e., faster connectivity for higher fees). This statement signaled a major shift in the EU debate, and is at odds with the statement made in November 2014 by President Obama, when he called on the FCC to impose public utility-type regulation on broadband services to preserve net neutrality.
Latvia took over the six-month rolling presidency of the European Council of Ministers on Jan. 1. In the list of priorities for its presidency term, it stated that EU members should push for a “compromise” on network neutrality, which appears consistent with allowing telecommunications providers to offer specialized services or other similar measures. We expect to see the debate in the EU to continue through the coming months, with an eye toward final resolution in mid- to late-2015. Should the EU and the U.S. diverge on their network neutrality policies, companies in the Internet space, including VoIP and managed services providers, may find themselves contending with different rules and market forces as their services cross international borders.
Edited by Maurice Nagle


Pathogenic Social Media (PSM) accounts such as terrorist supporters exploit large communities of supporters for conducting attacks on social media. Early detection of these accounts is crucial as they are high likely to be key users in making a harmful message 'viral'. In this paper, we make the first attempt on utilizing causal inference to identify PSMs within a short time frame around their activity. We propose a time-decay causality metric and incorporate it into a causal community detection-based algorithm. The proposed algorithm is applied to groups of accounts sharing similar causality features and is followed by a classification algorithm to classify accounts as PSM or not. Unlike existing techniques that take significant time to collect information such as network, cascade path, or content, our scheme relies solely on action log of users. Results on a real-world dataset from Twitter demonstrate effectiveness and efficiency of our approach. We achieved precision of 0.84 for detecting PSMs only based on their first 10 days of activity; the misclassified accounts were then detected 10 days later.


Youth Tourism Sector issues under COVID-19
Dear Minister Birmingham,
I am writing to you as a representative of BYTAP (Backpacker and Youth Tourism Advisory Panel). BYTAP was established as a sector advocacy group under ATEC and its panel is represented by a cross-section of experienced industry leaders and a representative from Tourism Australia.
With the onset of COVID-19, the inbound youth tourism sector has been significantly impacted because of the closure of Australia’s borders. While some operators have been able to shift their operations to the domestic market, large-scale closures are expected with the likelihood that borders will not reopen until 2021.
This will have devastating effect on regional communities and on the Australian economy. As you may be aware Working Holiday Makers spend an average of $10,000 on their travels in Australia, cumulatively generating over $2bn each year for the visitor economy, with much of this income generated in regional areas. [1]
Further, Working Holiday Makers are a critical source of seasonal labour in horticulture and pastoral operations, in addition to being the only sole source of care for many Australian families (Au pairs). This is clearly demonstrated by a recent petition set up by the Au pair industry association CAPAA which generated over 1,000 signatures within two weeks. [2]
To respond to this situation, BYTAP has identified the following key priorities for the industry’s survival over the coming 12-month period:
Extending financial assistance – this includes JobKeeper and additional means tested financial assistance. An automatic one-year extension for Working Holiday visa holders effected by the pandemic on/offshore. The rollout of a ‘secure corridor’ quarantine plan to bring Working Holiday Makers back to Australia from August 2020. Reduction in Working Holiday Visa fees
On behalf of BYTAP I am urgently seeking a meeting with the Minister to discuss these points and the way forward for our sector.
My contact details are at the bottom of this email. I look forward to having the opportunity to discuss the youth tourism sector with you.
Sincerely,
Wendi Aylward
1 https://www.tourism.australia.com/content/dam/assets/document/1/7/4/v/m/2012530.pdf


At the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, we have a bold mission. We seek to honor the legacy of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini by advancing the health and wellbeing of underserved populations across New York State.
In this, our first impact report, we present an overview of the work we supported in 2021, as we expanded grantmaking that started in late 2019 and will continue for many years to come. In partnership with hundreds of programs, and through the efforts of thousands of frontline workers, we are building a brighter future for millions of New Yorkers.
As our CEO, Msgr. Gregory Mustaciuolo, writes: “As we look to the future, we know we must rise to the challenge of supporting health equity and improved access to critical health services for all New Yorkers. We remain committed to funding both direct care programs and programs that address social determinants of health.”
Our report showcases just a handful of examples of the impact of our grants. We are proud that all honor the legacy of Mother Cabrini.
Here’s a downloadable PDF of our 2021 Impact Report, or scroll through the pages below:


Participants Professor Tony Chafer, University of Portsmouth Professor Gordon Cumming, Cardiff University Dr Roel van der Velde, Cardiff University Ahmed Soliman, Research Fellow, Horn of Africa, Chatham House Dr Elisa Lopez Lucia, Université Libre de Bruxelles; University of Portsmouth Chair: Janet Adama Mohammed, West Africa Programme Director, Conciliation Resources
Peacekeeping missions which have sought to address evolving forms of conflict and instability on the African continent – led by the United Nations, African Union and European Union – have frequently been overstretched.
Across regions including the Sahel, the Horn and West Africa, the issues of violent extremism and criminality – often set against a backdrop of collapsing or severely weakened central states – have led to the mobilisation of a diverse set of new collective responses.
These include notable African-led efforts such as AMISOM in Somalia or more recently the G5 Sahel, where France have played a pivotal role in initiating new and more ad hoc approaches to coalition-building.
As existing multinational missions in Africa continue to evolve on the ground and while new collective opportunities increasingly present themselves, it is critical for policymakers to understand how far such efforts reflect meaningful long-term solutions to the challenges of conflict and insecurity.
At this roundtable event, participants will reflect on how such missions become mobilised and legitimised, the extent to which they can be defined as ‘new’, and whether they represent a truly sustainable means to tackle the issue of conflict in Africa.
This roundtable is held in partnership with Cardiff University and the University of Portsmouth and is supported by the Leverhulme Trust.
Read more on
Chatham House


Massachusetts lease agreements are contracts that govern the exchange of rent between a tenant and a landlord. Along with specifying the monthly rent, lease agreements will include key obligations of the landlord and the tenant, such as responsibility for utilities or particular repairs. Both parties should maintain a copy of the lease agreement, and refer to it to prevent lingering disputes. Rental Application– This form is provided before a lease agreement, and is used by a landlord to gather information about a tenant’s credit history and references. Contents Massachusetts Lease Agreements: By Type(6) Landlord-Tenant Laws Required Disclosures (5) Security Deposit Laws When is Rent Due? (grace periods) Eviction Notice (non-payment) Maximum Fees ($) Tenant’s Unclaimed Property Handbooks and Guides Commercial Lease Agreement Month-to-Month Lease Agreement Rent-to-Own Lease Agreement Roommate Lease Agreement Standard Lease Agreement Sublease Agreement
Fire Insurance – Within fifteen (15) days of the beginning of a lease, a landlord must disclose the terms and conditions of the property’s fire insurance policy (ch. 186, § 21). Inventory Checklist – Within ten (10) days of either receiving the security deposit or the beginning of a lease, whichever is later, the landlord must provide a form that allows a tenant to write down any and all repairs needed or defects on the premises. If a tenant does request a checklist, the tenant will have fifteen (15) days to return the inventory checklist to the landlord (ch. 186, § 15B(2)(b)).
Landlords are required to include this statement in the inventory checklist:
This is a statement of the condition of the premises you have leased or rented. You should read it carefully in order to see if it is correct. If it is correct you must sign it. This will show that you agree that the list is correct and complete. If it is not correct, you must attach a separate signed list of any damage which you believe exists in the premises. This statement must be returned to the landlord or his agent within fifteen days after you receive this list or within fifteen days after you move in, whichever is later. If you do not return this list, within the specified time period, a court may later view your failure to return the list as your agreement that the list is complete and correct in any suit which you may bring to recover the security deposit.
Lead-Based Paint Disclosure – Federal law mandates that landlords for properties built before 1978 must disclose to the tenant or tenants the risks of lead-based paint. Security Deposit Receipt – If a landlord chooses to seek a security deposit from a tenant, the landlord must provide the tenant with a receipt that includes the amount, the name of the person accepting it, the date the deposit was delivered, and a description of the premises that the tenant will be occupying. The person accepting the security deposit must sign this form (ch. 186, § 15B(2)(c)). Follow-up Deposit Statement – Within thirty (30) days of receiving a security deposit, a landlord must provide to a tenant an additional statement, separate from the receipt mentioned above, identifying: the name and location of the bank where the security deposit is being held; the amount of deposit; and the number of the account in which it is being held (ch. 186, § 15B(3)(a)).
Landlords may charge no more than
one (1) month’s rent for a security deposit, reflected in the rental rate when a tenant’s lease begins (ch. 186, § 15(B)(iii)).
A landlord who accepts a security deposit from a tenant must return the deposit to the tenant
within thirty (30) days of the end of the tenancy. The landlord may retain a portion of the security deposit for any unpaid rent or utility charges owed by the tenant, unaccounted for increases in property taxes where the lease agreement assigns responsibility for these costs to the tenant, and the cost of repairs to the dwelling unit that are necessary due to the actions of the tenant or the tenant’s guests, agents or family. The landlord cannot retain a portion of the security deposit for any reason other than these. Repairs that are part of the reasonable wear and tear of a tenancy may not be addressed with a security deposit (ch. 186, §15B(4)).
Rent is due at the time and place agreed upon in the rental agreement. For the purpose of fees, rent is not considered late until
thirty (30) days after it is due (ch. 186, § 15(1)(c)). 14-Day Notice to Pay or Quit – If a tenant fails to pay rent on time, the landlord may post this notice, which alerts a tenant that the landlord has a right to begin eviction proceedings if the tenant fails to pay the amount owed within fourteen (14) days. The landlord or an agent should also use this form, which includes necessary information, to indicate that the tenant has received notice. Tenants should note that the notice is not itself an eviction, and that if nonpayment is connected to some failure by a local, state or federal government agency, the tenant automatically has an additional seven (7) days to pay (ch. 186, § 11).
Download: Adobe PDF
Massachusetts does not set limits on how much a landlord may charge as a late fee, but note that the state does not permit late fees to be imposed until
at least 30 (thirty) days after rent is due (ch. 186, § 15(B(1)(c)).
Massachusetts law is silent on the amount landlords may charge tenants for offering rent checks with insufficient funds, but best practice is to name the fee in the rental agreement, and for the fee to be
reasonable.
If the tenant leaves behind personal property following an eviction, the landlord must store the property at a public warehouse. The keeper of the warehouse must provide notice of the stored personal property to the former tenant
within seven (7) days of receiving it. The landlord must pay the cost of storing the property, but is entitled to reimbursement from the tenant. The warehouser shall not sell any of the tenant’s property for at least six (6) months after providing the notice to the tenant, and may not sell it for an additional three (3) months if during that time the tenant reimburses the landlord for at least half of the storage costs to that point (ch. 239, § 4).


Infants of teenage mums at higher HIV risk
A study by researchers at UKZN’s Centre for Rural Health has found that babies born to HIV-positive teenage mothers are more likely to be infected with HIV than babies born to women older than 20.
This is because despite attending antenatal care facilities, teenagers do not seem to enjoy the same access to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV as older women.
The study entitled, ‘HIV-Infected Adolescent Mothers and Their Infants: Low Coverage of HIV Services and High Risk of HIV Transmission in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa’, looked at the rates of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (MTCT) amongst adolescents, and compared characteristics of adolescent mothers and adult mothers, including HIV prevalence and MTCT rates.
Just over 19 000 mothers between the ages of 12 and 39 were interviewed. Researchers also examined patterns of health service utilisation during the antenatal and early postnatal period, HIV prevalence and MTCT amongst adolescent and adult mothers with infants aged 16 weeks attending immunisation clinics in six districts of KwaZulu-Natal between May 2008 and April 2009.
Researchers found that pregnant girls aged 12 to 19 were tested for HIV much later in their pregnancy than adult women. This meant they were only able to access treatment later in their pregnancy and were thus less likely to have received a full regimen of antiretroviral therapy (ART) prophylaxis. The study found that ‘significantly fewer adolescent’ mothers received the recommended ARV treatment for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
The survey found that most mothers had attended antenatal care four or more times during their pregnancy (80.3%), and 98.2% reported having had an HIV test.
A greater proportion of adult mothers, compared to adolescent mothers, reported being HIV-positive. Of this number, 16% more adult mothers also reported having a CD4 count taken during their pregnancy compared to teenage mothers. HIV antibody was detected in 40.4% of 7 800 infants aged four to eight weeks tested for HIV, indicating HIV exposure. This was higher among infants of adult mothers (47.4%) compared to adolescent mothers (17.9%).
However, the MTCT rate at four to eight weeks of age was significantly higher amongst infants of adolescent mothers compared to adult mothers. Despite high levels of antenatal clinic attendance among pregnant adolescents in KwaZulu-Natal, the study indicates that the MTCT risk is higher among infants of HIV-infected adolescent mothers compared to adult mothers. Thus researchers suggest that access to adolescent-friendly family planning and PMTCT services be prioritised for this vulnerable group.
-Nombuso Dlamini


On the 16
th of March this year, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a nationwide lockdown as a response to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. By then, Italy, the first European nation to do so, had been under lockdown for two weeks. The number of confirmed infections in France at the time of the announcement was 6,633, and reported deaths stood at 146.
Towards the end of March, we at Redfield & Wilton Strategies conducted a poll asking how French voters perceived France’s response to the crisis. At the time, shortly after the lockdown had begun,
43% of respondents believed that France was not ready to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
Two months onwards, as the total lockdown neared its end in late May, we again conducted a poll in France to assess the evolution of public opinion with respect to France’s coronavirus response. By this point, the coronavirus pandemic had claimed the lives of more than 28,000 people in France, and confirmed cases stood at more than 140,000. The lockdown, initially intended to last only a few weeks, was still largely in effect with only minor relaxations.
These drastic changes thus underscore the results of our latest survey in France, where we found President Emanuel Macron’s approval rating for his handling of the coronavirus crisis dropping from +10% to -22%,
a stunning 32% swing.
When considering a number of leaders across Europe and the world, respondents in France thought that President Macron had demonstrated bad leadership at similar rates as they had for Prime Minister Boris Johnson; 43% indicating that Macron had demonstrated poor leadership, while 45% had selected the same for Johnson and a whopping 61% for President Donald Trump. Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, had 56% of French respondents saying she had demonstrated good leadership.
Polls conducted by us in Italy and Germany around the same time in May, meanwhile, found nearly a third of Italians believing France had handled the crisis worse than Italy, and nearly half of Germans thinking France had handled the crisis worse than Germany.
The controversy surrounding the French government’s alleged destruction of masks before the pandemic, Macron’s loss of a majority at the National Assembly coupled with the legacy of the
Gilets Jaunes, may account for such a shift in approval.
In March, the French public overwhelmingly supported the stern response to the crisis, widely approving of the decision to go into a lockdown. Macron’s crisis initially positive approval rating likely reflected appreciation for this decision.
But even at that time, there were strong suggestions that an alarmed French public was frustrated with their Governments’ response up until that point. About two-thirds of respondents believed that the French Government’s actions had ‘fallen far short.’ This number had only slightly decreased to 60% by late May.
Similarly, a majority in March believed that the Government had not emphasised enough the threat from the coronavirus to the public. This number has dropped only to a plurality in late May, indicating that more respondents believe that the Government has caught up with the public’s own perceptions.
Altogether,
63% of respondents to our poll answered that France has handled this crisis poorly. For respondents living in the east of France––one of the first and most severely hit regions––this resentment rose to 70% of respondents.
Moving forward,
a considerable majority of respondents remain more concerned about the impact of the crisis on public health (69%) than on the economy (31%). This figured broadly corresponds to attitudes in March (70%).
Nevertheless, there is a growing eagerness for the continued easing of the lockdown measures and a greater focus on the economy.
63% of respondents said they were eager for the social distancing measures to end, anticipating Prime Minister Edouard Philippe’s announcement just a few days after we conducted our poll that lockdown restrictions would be progressively lifted in June.
A considerable number of French respondents think the pace of the easing of the lockdown measures is progressing too slowly.
Such eagerness reflects a desire to return to the workplace. Indeed,
59% of employers considered that returning to work would be safe. Unsurprisingly, the 18 to 24 age group is the most confident (66%), perhaps reflecting their feeling of invulnerability towards the virus and their distressing economic situation.
This readiness indicates that respondents appear to be acutely aware of France’s economic burden. Indeed,
44% consider supporting the overall economy the most important issue for France in the coming months, rising to over half (54%) of those who voted for Macron in the 2017 Presidential elections.
As the French public now believe its Government has failed in its response to the public health crisis, the shift towards safely getting the country on a better economic footing will be an opportunity for a significantly unpopular President Macron to redeem his prospects of re-election in 2022.


FutureBuilt’s 2018 version is based on the Norwegian Standard NS 3720 Method for greenhouse gas calculations for buildings, which is based on the European standards. The calculations are done for a 60-year period. Each project shall include (at a minimum) four calculations, including:
Reference building, at the beginning of concept design, using specific rules set by FutureBuilt, based on energy regulation for building types, building size, floor number, and type-specific material use for each part of the building, and location and type-specific transport patterns as well as other choices allowing adjustment of, for example, foundation work due to site specific foundation conditions Targeted building, in the early design phase. This must show at least a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the reference building. Actual building – as built. In this phase, all products sourced with EPDs must use EPDs for the calculation. Extended commissioning status – two years in use. Here, all energy use and transport emissions must be using the realized consumption and actual travel pattern data.
Uniquely, the FutureBuilt scope includes transport of the building users during the occupation phase, 60 years, which makes the selection of a site close to a public transport hub/city center essential for the carbon performance of the building. FutureBuilt demands the project to appoint an emissions tracking expert. The tracking expert must report the greenhouse gas emissions of the project at various stages, including at completion (as-built).


Winner Data for Justice Migration SOGI Women's Rights
Share this
Contact information
InReach, formerly AsylumConnect: providing legal aid and support to LGBTQ+ people fleeing persecution
The Problem In 80+ countries it remains illegal or unsafe to live openly as an LGBTQ+ person. As a result, thousands are forced to flee their countries every year. The challenge for many is that discrimination continues even in "safe" havens. LGBTQ+ asylum seekers struggle to access legitimate local services and support, and face increased risk of detention and homelessness when accessing critical social services. Out of options, many are forced to give up on their legal claim and face deportation. The Approach To fill this information gap, InReach, formerly AsylumConnect, has created the world's first web and mobile platform designed to facilitate the safe navigation of LGBTQ+ people fleeing persecution. LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, refugees, and undocumented immigrants use InReach's free resources to match with independently verified legal, medical, mental health, and social service providers. InReach is currently available in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. InReach offers a translated international resource page for those who are outside of North America or still in transit. The platform lists 6,000+ services vetted by trained volunteers to be welcoming to LGBTQ+ asylum seekers fleeing persecution.
InReach aims to produce systemic change through enhancing the work of existing legal service providers. Nonprofit lawyers, attorneys, and law students working pro-bono efficiently gather verified non-legal service referrals for LGBTQ+ clients. Legal nonprofits advertise their services directly to potential clients.
The Junior Board Program was launched in the United States in 2020. The goal is to mobilize young professionals across the United States to serve as ambassadors in their communities for AsylumConnect.
The Impact 140,000+ matches between LGBTQ+ people fleeing persecution and independently verified affirming legal, medical, mental health and social service providers since its launch in 2016. Importance of the existence of this type of database and centralized information recognized by lawyers and paralegals. Trusted by LGBTQ+ resource seekers due to its unique emphasis on confidentiality and user safety, and LGBTQ+ affirming care. The Future InReach plans on rebranding as the go-to platform for all LGBTQ+ people fleeing persecution, introducing new non-English translation, a resource navigation helpline, and direct referral support. The organization is currently focused on expansion across North America, with plans to explore replicating its free platform in European countries in the future. InReach also plans to convert its Junior Board Program to in-person local chapters to maximize membership and revenue.


I am reminded of this chart every time I drive by a car lot. Before the pandemic, financing and insurance profits made up 70% of the dealer’s profits. Now, due to price appreciation of their inventory, that percentage has changed. However, the dollar profits from financing and insurance continue to increase. Car dealers have become more like finance and insurance companies.


Alternative Covers for Degraded Areas and Landfill Sites
The restoration of areas degraded as a result of human activities such as natural resource exploitation, urban development, or landfills for soil and waste is a hot topic.
For the moment, in Québec, the engineering consulting firms usually mandated for designing plans and specifications in restoration projects for degraded sites are not aware of all the alternative systems they can use to restore sites. The various first-line stakeholders and decision makers, including regulatory bodies granting authorizations, will eagerly welcome the UdeS’s research on the topic. This research work will lead to new avenues for highly tangible solutions, in a sustainable development perspective.
Since site recovery is often crucial to ensuring value and promotion, researchers are attempting to determine if certain soil categories, currently not accepted as construction material, could be used as covers for beneficial purposes instead of being buried.
Research has shown that to be effective, the cover material of a landfill site must be capable of controlling water infiltration and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This way, once planted, vegetation can start playing its protective role against erosion again. In contrast, ineffective covering may have unfortunate impacts on neighbouring populations: Deterioration in the environment’s quality, odour emissions, presence of rodents, and potential waterway contamination.
With this in mind, Professor Alexandre Cabral’s team is developing passive methane oxidation biocovers (PMOB). These alternative covers significantly reduce GHG emissions after shutting down active systems when they are no longer able to collect biogas. In some cases, on old sites or sites where collection has stopped, PMOBs may even be the only viable option.
To test various materials and thus determine the most effective cover, they built three experimental plots on the St-Nicéphore landfill, in Québec. The work integrates the geotechnical (placement; compaction; etc.), hydraulic (unsaturated flows; degree of water saturation; etc.), and biological (dynamics of methanotrophic activity) aspects of a PMOB. Five large-scale experimental plots were also built to install mass flow meters and sensors connected to a data acquisition system. With these plots, they will evaluate the amount of water percolating through the different covers tested, including certain covers incorporating contaminated soils. In the end, the research conducted by this Sherbrooke team will lead to sustainable solutions for the current waste management situation.
Principal Investigator: Alexandre Cabral


Vitamin D has become a hot topic of conversation. European Public Health authorities reckon anyone living in the countries where exposure to sunlight is scarce during a large part of the year, e.g. the UK, are likely to have less-than-optimal levels, or even experience deficiency. Vitamin D is responsible for key underlining processes that ensure […]


A landmark study, led by Monash University's Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) with the involvement of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, both in Australia, has revealed the reason why men with a family history of prostate cancer who also carry the BRCA2 gene fault have a more aggressive form of prostate cancer. The study, published online on January 9, 2017 in Nature Communications, involving a consortium of Melbourne and Toronto researchers and clinicians, reports the molecular profile of the prostate cancers in men with the BRCA2 fault is similar to the profile seen in patients with advanced cancer: explaining why - right from diagnosis - BRCA2 patients have a poor outcome. The international team of scientists, led by Professor Gail Risbridger and Dr. Renea Taylor from the BDI and Dr. Rob Bristow from the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, Canada, in collaboration with clinicians from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, kConFab, Austin Health, and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre, worked to unlock the secrets of why prostate cancer in BRCA2 men behaves aggressively. The open-access article is titled “Germline BRCA2 Mutations Drive Prostate Cancers with Distinct Evolutionary Trajectories.” This study, part of a larger Victorian Cancer Agency-funded program of translational research, had previously reported that men who carried the BRCA2 gene fault were at a higher risk of having a more aggressive form of prostate cancer if a cell pathology known as IDCP (intraductal carcinoma of the prostate) was present; the IDCP cell pathology predicted these men were much more likely to have a poor clinical outcome.
Login Or Register To Read Full Story


Two Bitcoin Funds Go Live in Singapore
Last updated on December 4th, 2022 at 10:08 pm
This year has seen much growth in terms of adopting Bitcoin by countries, business and even some regulators.
As an example, in October, the U.S. contributed to a major Bitcoin bull market after approving a Bitcoin futures-based exchange-traded fund.
The latest country to announce the launch of a Bitcoin fund is Singapore. However, unlike in the U.S., this Bitcoin fund will be issued by a fund manager and will only be available to institutional investors.
Launching Two Bitcoin Funds
The new funds are known as the Fintonia Bitcoin Physical Fund and the Fintonia Secured Yield Fund.
These funds will only be open to institutional investors, according to an announcement issued on Thursday. Moreover, they will also offer a simple and secure exposure to Bitcoin.
According to an announcement from the founder and chairman of Fintonia, Adrian Chng,
“The funds are live, and investors can subscribe and redeem regularly as they are open-ended funds, similar to a mutual fund. The funds are only available for accredited investors.”
The Fintonia Bitcoin Physical Fund will target institutions that want to gain exposure to Bitcoin. It will allow these institutional investors to buy, store and sell a large number of digital assets.
Chng further stated that this fund would deal with Bitcoin directly. As such, it will acquire the physical Bitcoin and it will not be based on a derivative instrument on Bitcoin, which is the case in the U.S.
The second fund will be the Fintonia Secured Yield Fund. This fund will not seek to offer direct exposure to Bitcoin, but it will allow investors to apply for loans that have been collateralized by Bitcoin.
Chng stated that
“Bitcoin is an excellent form of collateral for loans. It trades 24/7 and is highly liquid, with approximately $30 billion to $60 billion per day. If required, it can be quickly liquidated in comparison with, for example, commodities and real assets.”
The two funds will rely on a third-party custodian with all the needed licenses. This custodian will be tasked with storing cryptocurrencies on cold wallets. Moreover, these investments will be insured to ensure that investors are protected in case of theft and hacking of exchange platforms.
Reducing Crypto-to-Fiat Friction
Fintonia stated that as a MAS-regulated fund management firm, it seeks to reduce the hindrances of crypto to fiat transactions. Moreover, the firm has the necessary measures to comply with the Know Your Customer regulations and the anti-money laundering requirements.
During the announcement, Fintonia stated that the fund would function like others in the market.
“These open-ended funds provide professional investors with a recognized legal and regulatory structure, similar to that of a typical mutual fund.”
Fintonia Group has been one of the early supporters of cryptocurrencies, according to Chng. He stated that the firm was now more focused on cryptocurrencies because they had
“evolved into a separate asset class.”
As part of this pro-crypto stance, in November of 2020, Singapore announced that its largest bank would launch a fiat-to-crypto exchange.
Singapore is one of the most progressive crypto economies. Its clear and established crypto regulatory framework has made it a major hub for regulators, which have issued licenses to several crypto firms.
However, the country’s regulators issued a warning to Binance a few months back for violating the existing laws. Binance has since exited the Singapore market.
Disclaimer
The information provided here is for INFORMATIONAL & EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY!
View our complete disclaimer on our Disclaimer Page


Date of this Version
2021
Citation
Abbott, D, et al. 2021. (Non)Religious Coping with a Natural Disaster in a Rural U.S. Community. Secularism and Nonreligion, 10: 1, pp. 1–14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.139
Abstract
Religious/spiritual (R/S) coping following natural disasters is associated with positive outcomes, leading to perceptions that the absence of R/S coping leads to negative outcomes among nonreligious individuals. However, little research explicitly explores the coping strategies of nonreligious individuals in response to natural disasters and traumatic events. The present study collected data from a sample of survivors of a natural disaster event (i.e., a tornado) to test the relationship between (non)religiosity/(non)spirituality, coping, psychological distress, and posttraumatic growth. Statistical models suggested that problem-focused coping facilitated posttraumatic growth and lower levels of psychological distress among people with lower levels of institutional religiousness and/or individual spirituality (consistent with predictions), but not among people at high levels of religiousness/spirituality (contrary to predictions). Participants with moderate levels of institutional religiousness reported more dysfunctional coping and higher levels of psychological distress, as predicted. Emotion-focused coping was associated with fewer depressive symptoms following trauma among participants with low levels of institutional religiousness. These data suggest a complex relationship between trauma, posttraumatic growth, distress, and coping among varying levels of (non)religiousness/(non)spirituality. This study is among the first to suggest that problem-focused coping in particular may promote positive psychological outcomes among nonreligious/nonspiritual people following a natural disaster or traumatic event. Implications of these data (i.e., for treatment of trauma) are discussed.


Canna Lily Grow Guide
Canna lilies (Canna spp.) can grow as tall as 10 feet, and their bright colors and exotic look can add a touch of the tropics to gardens in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 through 10. One of the first recorded uses of canna lilies as an ornamental plant dates back to the 1500s. If you're thinking of adding a spark of color and flair to your backyard with canna lilies, familiarize yourself with everything that this perennial needs to grow and thrive in your garden. If you don't have the greenest of thumbs, don't fear: Canna lilies are so hardy, they're often planted in city parks and road medians because they can grow with so little help.
Site Selection
Canna lily plants grow best in full sun. While they can survive in partly shaded areas, they won't produce as many blossoms as a canna lily in full sun. For best results, the soil should be well-draining and rich in organic content, which you can achieve by adding 4 inches of compost, grass clippings and similar matter to the soil.
Planting
Canna lilies start as underground rhizomes which you can plant as soon as all risks of frost in the area have passed. Sink the dormant rhizome approximately 4 inches into the ground. If you're planting more than one canna, space them three feet apart.
Fertilizing
While they're hardy plants, canna lilies respond well to fertilization, which can enhance plant vigor, growth and blossoming. Washington State University recommends fertilizing the plants once a month during the summer when the plants experience the most growth. For the best results, a 5-10-5 fertilizer, applied at a rate of 1 pound for every 50 square feet, works well.
Maintenance
Canna lilies thrive in moist growing conditions. Water whenever the soil dries out to a depth of approximately 6 inches, which you can check using a screwdriver or a stick. Regularly remove dead or dying flowers from the plant to encourage continuous flowering. A single flower stalk will produce several blossoms. Using pruning shears, cut off each individual blossom as it dies, then remove the entire flower stalk once all blossoms have wilted.
Removal and Storage
In the fall, the canna lily enters dormancy and begins dying back. If you live in a climate colder than USDA zone 8, dig out the plant and cut back all its stems to a length of 2 inches. Once the rhizome has been rinsed and dried, leave the plant out at room temperature for three days before placing it in a paper bag and storing it in a cool, dry place such as a basement.
References
Writer Bio
Joshua Duvauchelle is a certified personal trainer and health journalist, relationships expert and gardening specialist. His articles and advice have appeared in dozens of magazines, including exercise workouts in Shape, relationship guides for Alive and lifestyle tips for Lifehacker. In his spare time, he enjoys yoga and urban patio gardening.


Imagine you are running a successful antique store.
During busy hours, a few visitors enter your shop and all appear quite interested in your inventory. Yet swamped with work, you only have time to entertain one.
Terribly aware that by attending one you could very well lose the remaining prospects, who would you choose?
Or better, will the chosen one purchase the product, or would it all be for naught?
The above two queries are a constant struggle for entrepreneurs, regardless of their business size.
With time constraints and many leads to consider, businesses must prioritize who to approach and whom to leave out.
Marketing qualified lead (MQL) and Sales qualified lead (SQL) are two definite classifications marketers employ to handle such obstacles.
By successfully identifying MQL and SQL, you will be in an excellent position to not just plan your marketing strategy accordingly, but strengthen your customer base.
Here, I will share an overview of how to determine MQL and SQL, and the methods to help you increase their numbers.
But, before we dive in, let’s cover the basics first.
Contents
What are MQL and SQL?
Are you familiar with the buyer’s journey?
A potential customer goes through three major stages before they purchase any item.
First comes awareness of the product, followed by curiosity. If the item interests the customer, they take the time to ponder it. Once sure, they buy the product.
MQL (Marketing qualified lead) is the “ponderer” who is keenly interested in your product but doesn’t yet want to take a step further. SQL (Sales qualified lead), in contrast, definitely intends to buy.
As the problem often arises in the “pondering” phase, MQL and SQL can make your challenging task easier.
How to Identify MQL and SQL?
To distinguish MQL from SQL, you must get an in-depth insight into customer behavior and their intentions toward your product.
1. Determine Customer’s Behavior to Discover MQL instincts to weed out generic leads.
One look at the person and they can pin down a window shopper from afar.
Bah! He will not buy it. John, I tell you. Attend the lady in purple scarf instead.
This observation skill allows them to prioritize those they could positively convert into customers.
For a large enterprise, though, this approach is impractical. Instead, the marketing department uses lead magnets to gather data and evaluate visitors’ behavior.
Let me briefly explain how customer data can aid you.
If MQL makes frequent visits to your site shows a distinct interest in your brand. If a lead subscribes to your newsletter, they want to keep up the connection in the event they may wish to buy your product.
If MQL adds a few items to the card merely for the sake of creating a wish list, they demonstrate their eagerness. They might even try a demo version, hinting at a potential sale in the future.
The marketing team observes the engagement factor to create a buyer’s persona, so they’d a benchmark to spot MQL.
I am not going into details on Buyer’s persona as the subject needs an entirely separate article for it. Suffice to say, just as you continuously tweak your attire until you find the
right size, the marketing department follows similar procedures to create their template.
Should your potential lead meet the criteria, they are listed as MQL ready to move to SQL. If not, they are filtered out.
Once you’ve substantial data on hand, estimate a potential MQL through a scoring method.
2. Use Lead Score to Separate SQL from MQL
Ever noticed a gradient ombre shade? It begins with a dark tone, gradually moving to mid-shade until the tips fade into a lighter version.
Think of lead scoring like an ombre, only in numbers.
You assign points to your leads based on their behavior, common factors, and personal information. Once you recognize strong leads, you can pass the SQL on to the Sales department and filter out the low-chance leads.
Sounds easy, I know, but to create an accurate score every minute detail should be considered.
For instance; if you’ve heard about ETSY, the popular multinational marketplace caters to a wide array of clients but has limited demographic coverage.
To ETSY, people out of their range of delivery points would likely have a weak lead score.
Similarly, businesses with a target market over 35 would likely pursue their customers on Facebook instead of Instagram, as millennials mostly prefer the former—giving Facebook users a higher lead score.
Score your leads by their attributes and you’ll find qualified ones at the top of your list.
Is it Necessary to Separate Painstakingly MQL and SQL?
Yes, it absolutely does.
MQL and SQL may appear similar, no doubt, but a customer’s intention, and your approach towards that customer is the reason they must be separately listed.
Remember the antique shop example? Imagine you’re still running it. While habitually dusting the shelf, you noticed someone browsing Aladdin’s lamp and thought to hasten their decision.
If your quarry is not yet ready to buy, they would not appreciate your assistance and might make their escape. But SQL would require little convincing since they’d already decided to buy the lamp.
To cut the story short, sales strategies are direct. If you reach out to the MQL prematurely, you’ll likely scare them off.
Keep in mind, despite every precaution, not all MQL converts into SQL for countless reasons. In fact, 79% of MQL customers rarely make a purchase!
But since human behavior has a surprising tendency to be predictable, you’ll likely have more success by following standard procedures.
What is the Best Method to Convert MQL to SQL?
The sure way to convert leads into customers is through lead nurturing.
Companies with a strong nurturing strategy attract not just 50% of their SQL but could turn even generic leads to MQL.
Aqua is a classic example.
In 2016, a cloud security company named Aqua launched its brand in a highly saturated market. With a tight budget, Aqua successfully converted 25% of its leads to MQL through active marketing and lead nurturing.
The Aqua case study demonstrates that a passive approach could also bring prospective customers to your door.
And most of all, automate your tasks as much as possible to save the grunt work.
Good luck!


ODJFS ready to help employers, employees VW independent staff/submitted information
COLUMBUS – As part of National Workforce Development Month, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) Director Matt Damschroder is highlighting various state of Ohio programs aimed at helping individuals who face barriers to employment.
“We are in a tight labor market, and employers across Ohio are looking for qualified workers to join their ranks,” Damschroder said. “At the same time, there are many Ohioans who want to work but face unique challenges entering the workforce. Our veterans, individuals with disabilities, and restored citizens all have much to offer if given the opportunity.”
Employers can earn federal tax credits for hiring individuals from certain targeted groups, including veterans, public assistance recipients, restored citizens, individuals with disabilities, and others who often face barriers to employment. The credits are made possible by the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program, which ODJFS manages for Ohio. Employers can receive tax credits of $2,400 to $9,600 per eligible employee.
Since January, ODJFS has approved nearly 80,000 WOTC applications. This translates to a total tax credit of approximately $192 million. Certain taxexempt organizations also can take advantage of the program, by receiving a credit against the employer’s share of Social Security taxes. WOTC applications must be submitted online at jfs.ohio.gov/wotc within 28 days of individuals’ start-to-work date.
OhioMeansJobs.com is a good resource for restored citizens, one group of individuals who face barriers to employment. In addition to basic job search information, restored citizens can find specific information about job searching with a criminal history, legal barriers, and planning for re-entry.
People with disabilities also have a dedicated section on OhioMeansJobs.com. Information about financial independence and security, overcoming barriers to work, and information for employers about working with people with disabilities is readily available on the site. Employers can also link to a large pool of diverse workers through Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities.
In addition, anyone looking for a job in Ohio can visit their local OhioMeansJobs Center for free one-on-one assistance. The centers offer free access to computers and phones. They also have career coaches on hand who can help individuals prepare resumes, explore careers, apply for jobs, and refer them to special programs, such as veterans’ services, vocational rehabilitation, and food and other emergency assistance.


Rutgers University students will see a 2.9% increase in tuition and fees for the 2022-2023 academic year, which is almost two-thirds below the current rate of inflation.
This change comes as part of the Rutgers Board of Governors-approved $5.1 billion budget for the 2022-2023 school year.
“We remain committed to providing excellence in academic experience and opportunity at an affordable and accessible price, and to ensuring that this necessary, measured increase does not affect our neediest students. Our focus on financial aid programs and net cost reflects that promise to our students, who have shown enormous resolve through the economic and other challenges of recent years,” said Mark A. Angelson, chair of the Rutgers University Board of Governors.
The new budget spends more than 77% on student instruction, research, public service, and patient care; 15.2% on administration, operations, and maintenance; nearly 5% on auxiliary expenses, including housing and dining operations and student transportation; and 2.7% on athletics spending.
The majority of Rutgers undergrads – nearly three-quarters – received some form of student financial aid in the 2020-2021 academic year. As a result, the estimated net price to attend Rutgers-New Brunswick for in-state, first-year students receiving aid was approximately 48% of the published cost of attendance – 44% at Rutgers-Newark and 39% at Rutgers-Camden.


A reliable water source – the essential ally to soap during a pandemic
In the last year thorough handwashing, social distancing and mask wearing have become a part of ordinary life. It was encouraging to see the educational role of good handwashing practices being widely promoted during the pandemic, an act that helps prevent the spread of disease-causing germs. While the ability to perform the act of handwashing is often not given much thought, something as simple as a consistent supply to clean water can be easily taken for granted, although in many parts of the world it is both a scarcity and a privilege.
I grew up in a government housing flat in Kuala Lumpur for hospital workers. Interruptions to our water supply were something we experienced multiple times in a year. On the fortunate occasions when the interruptions were planned, we were given notice about it and mum would round up all the pots and pails in the house to collect water for drinking, cooking, and showers. It might be hard to imagine a country with an abundance of water that is known for its rainforests to have water cuts, but these were not isolated incidents. Last year my parents along with 5 million others in the most populated region of Malaysia were affected by two major unscheduled water cuts which resulted in no water from the tap for at least four days.
Even when a reliable water source is available in an area, other factors such as social deprivation can also play a role. For most countries in Europe, it is illegal to disconnect water to a household due to unpaid water bills. In contrast, households in the United States face cut-offs from water utilities for non-payments of bills. Deprived regions with the highest rates of water cut-offs have been linked to higher levels of COVID transmission.
In North eastern Syria, locals have struggled with repeated water cuts due to the disruption of water supplies by armed forces. These supplies provided water to a number of nearby Refugee camps which impacted the ability of some of the most vulnerable people to protect themselves from disease transmission.
Water is a key requirement for people’s ability to follow recommended handwashing practices and during a pandemic it plays a crucial role for governments to achieve their health targets.
Sughayshinie Samba Sibam, University of Aberdeen


While electricity is a crucial basic need for homeowners, its hazards may result in fires, burns, shocks, electrocution, and even death. Overloaded circuits, electrical cords, plugged-in appliances that aren’t in use, and water close to electrical items can pose electrical threats. However, good electricity safety practices can prevent exposure to electricity risks.
Electrical safety establishes a safe environment to avoid hazards resulting from electric contact. Most electrical fires, injuries, and fatalities can be prevented. Nonetheless, you should familiarize yourself with the most common electrical hazards and how to avoid them. Here are five electrical home safety tips for homeowners. 1. Avoid overloading your electrical outlets
Electrical outlets are meant to carry a specific power load. Its overload increases when multiple devices or
appliances draw power from one outlet. An overload can also occur when you plug many high ampere devices or appliances into one outlet. A faulty circuit may also result in an outlet overload. When outlets overload, the circuit breakers trip, stopping the electric flow to the entire circuit.
Without circuit breakers, circuit wirings overheat, causing the wire insulations to melt. This may cause a fire. Invite a certified electrician to inspect your circuit layout and advice on preventing an outlet overload. You can also use
fuses to detect overloads, stop the current and safeguard your circuits. 2. Ensure proper wattage for your appliances and fixtures
All appliances and fixtures have the correct wattage that they should be used with. Inspect your fixtures and lamps to ensure you’re under or at the required threshold. For light fixtures without listed wattage, use 60 or less watt bulbs. Note that LEDs use less electricity and reduce overheating risk, making them a favorable choice for your home.
3. Use extension cords safely
Extension cords may become a fire hazard if used without caution and pose threats to personal safety. Avoid powering several appliances into a single cord when using extension cords, and avoid using indoor extension cords outdoors. Don’t plug several cords together and ensure they don’t run under furniture or rugs.
Avoid coiling or bending cords when in use. When not in use, ensure all the extension cords are unplugged. You should also avoid covering the cords because keeping them covered means heat can’t escape, which may cause a fire. When in use, extension cords shouldn’t be in snow or water to avoid electric shock.
4. Replace frayed or damaged electrical cords Frayed electrical cords pose a severe electrocution risk. Beware of recurring blown fuses because they could be a sign that there’s an issue with your wiring. Don’t ignore harsh smells, like smoke that lingers near appliances, a plug, a power strip, or a room. Frayed cords can be dangerous when plugged directly into an electrical outlet. The damaged insulation of these cords may cause shock, fire hazards, or electrocution. Consider getting old and damaged electrical cords immediately replaced to enhance safety. 5. Keep electrical outlets and devices away from water
When
water gets into contact with electricity, it can be dangerous. Consider keeping your electrical equipment away from water and dry to protect against electrocution and injuries. Keep your hands dry when working with electrical appliances. Ensure your electrical equipment is away from aquariums, sinks, bathtubs, and showers to reduce the risk of electricity and water coming into contact. Endnote
While electricity is crucial for daily use, it poses severe safety threats. Use these electrical home safety tips for homeowners to prevent electrical hazards.


New paper highlights the importance of locational strategy in business
A new paper published in Global Strategy Journal argues that business leaders should make a greater effort to understand locational strategy, a framework used for understanding how an organization's geographical decisions fit into the broader corporate strategy. According to the study authors, this knowledge could give businesses an edge over their competition, as locational decisions can affect everything from branding to human resources to research and development.


An international team of scientists has discovered a new method of high-speed storage of carbon dioxide in a bacterial enzyme that could eventually help fight climate change.
The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has led to a steadily worsening of the climate crisis, which has, in turn, urged scientists to step up the search for solutions on how to store it. The study was published in the London-based weekly scientific journal
Nature on July 20.
According to the research team, an enzyme found in heat-loving bacteria named
Thermoanaerobacter kivui could lead to new ways of depositing excessive carbon dioxide.
The bacteria, which lives in environments scarce with oxygen such as the deep sea, was initially discovered in Lake Kivu in central Africa in 1981.
The team, led by Dr. Ben Engel at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel in Switzerland along with colleagues from the Universities of Frankfurt and Marburg in Germany, highlighted that the enzyme, known as HDCR, produces formic acid from gaseous hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
In addition, it then removes carbon dioxide from the environment and stores it in the cell, while transferring electrons from hydrogen to carbon dioxide.
This, as stated by the Swiss university, is the first known enzyme capable of directly using hydrogen as an electron source for carbon dioxide storage.
After elucidating the HDCR structure, the researchers reported that the enzyme is composed of long filaments that serve as electron-conducting "nanowires" and control conversion efficiency of the two gases.
One of the first authors of the study, Dr. Ricardo Righetto from the University of Basel's Biozentrum, added: "It is the structure of the enzyme that makes high-speed CO2 storage possible."
To understand how the enzyme works, the scientists first imaged filaments purified in the lab that helped them determine its atomic structure.
The university added: "This made details of the filaments visible, revealing how the "nanowire" contains thousands of electron-conducting clusters of iron and sulfur atoms, which allow electrons to be efficiently passed from hydrogen to carbon dioxide.
"The scientists believe that the "nanowire" can also store the electrons from hydrogen when even just one hydrogen bubble passes by the bacteria."
After performing tomography of frozen cellular sections to image native HDCR structures inside the bacterial cells, the filaments began twisting around themselves several times like a metal cable.
Righetto said: "We were really surprised to not only confirm the occurrence of HDCR filaments in the cells but to find they form large bundles attached to the membrane.
"These super-structures look like circular "portals" on the membrane. This arrangement might be important to increase the efficiency of the enzyme for the bacteria to obtain energy under such extreme conditions."
Engel added: "The HDCR structure shows us a new way to efficiently store CO2 by using hydrogen as an energy source.
"This could turn out to be very useful for future biotechnology applications.
"At the same time, our study demonstrates the value of fundamental scientific research that explores the biology of diverse organisms.
"Nature is full of amazing surprises."
This story was provided to Newsweek by Zenger News.


PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 19 INVESTMENTS |COVER STORY
Tactical allocations have pros and cons, from a sponsor
perspective. " The pro is that, if the investment managers do get
the [tactical] calls right, it pays off for investors, " Pacholok says.
" But the con is that they could totally miss the mark. As a sponsor,
you have to decide, do you think it's worth taking that risk? "
The Callan GlidePath Funds have no tactical allocation, due
to the risk of this shorter-term strategy performing poorly, says
Mark Andersen, senior vice president and manager, trust advisory
group, at Callan in San Francisco. If a plan's target-date fund
family does have a tactical allocation, he adds, " The plan sponsor
needs to understand the process by which these tactical allocations
are made and the magnitude of the tactical bands: How big
can the tactical allocations be, measured as a percentage away
from the strategic allocation targets? And how does the manager's
approach to tactical allocations change over time, or not? "
O'Toole stresses that the Freedom Funds' managers make
long-term strategic allocations with different kinds of market and
economic environments in mind, and strategic allocations play a
bigger role in how the funds perform. Given the uncertain longerterm
capital markets outlook, in 2021 the funds increased diversification
by adding international bonds as an asset class, increasing
U.S. inflation-protected and nominal bonds, reducing U.S. investment-grade
bonds, and decreasing short-term debt holdings.
" We always remind plan sponsors that we're investing for
a very long-term time horizon, " O'Toole says. " Obviously, volatility
is uncomfortable for participants and sponsors. But earning
returns in the market does require bearing some risk, and our
glide path is designed to endure periods of volatility. We incorporate
investments that we believe will compensate investors over
time for bearing that market risk. "
Strategic Diversification
In terms of strategic allocations, equity exposures can vary widely
by cyclicality, volatility and the ability to mitigate downside risk,
Dessner says. American Funds' TDF managers intentionally
change the equities exposure over the participant life cycle, she
says. " In the early stages, when participants have a longer time
horizon and can tolerate volatility, we are more growth-oriented.
As people get closer to retirement, it's not just that we have fewer
equities. We move more into lower-volatility, higher-dividendyielding
equities. At that point, we think the allocations have to
be much more defensive exposures. "
A plan sponsor should take time to understand the methodology
for the equity exposure that the plan's target-date funds
have, Andersen says. This means, in part, grasping how and why
a manager deviates from an index in a particular asset class.
The Callan GlidePath Funds' managers have maintained two
primary equity deviations over the long term, for example.
" We are overweight to U.S. equities relative to the global
equities benchmark, " Andersen continues. " U.S. retirement
savers, for whom we feel like we are working, spend U.S. dollars
" ... there's a need for
an ongoing close look
at the target-date
manager, and that
requires a look at the
glide path structure
and investment
philosophy. "
in retirement, and we think that U.S. bias in the allocation
makes sense. Our equities mix increases the bias to the U.S. as
retirement approaches. And we have a bias to smaller-cap equities.
The thinking is that small-cap provides higher returns in
the long term, albeit at a higher volatility, and retirement savers
with a long-term focus can handle that volatility. Also, we think
that small cap is a better place [than large cap] to utilize active
management. "
Within fixed income, broad diversification has become
crucial amid interest rate shifts and economic uncertainty. In
recent years, an investor could just put money in a core bond
index fund and get a consistent return. Asked whether fixedincome
diversification has gained significance, Andersen says,
" Yes, emphatically. Having diversification in fixed income has
been really important, both across nominal [conventional] bonds
and inflation-sensitive bonds, and a mix of bond durations
between shorter term and longer term. "
For sponsors eyeing recent volatility, fixed-income diversification
has become more of a forefront concern, Pacholok says.
" You have to ask yourself, what role is fixed income playing in
your target-date fund portfolios? " she says. Do a plan's TDFs hold
mostly core fixed-income funds aimed at preserving capital and
limiting volatility, or do they also invest much in holdings such
as emerging-market debt that can bring both higher returns and
higher volatility? " Understanding what you want from the fixedincome
portfolio is becoming more of a key question for plan
sponsors, " she adds.
The recent inflation spike has brought the issue of diversifying
into inflation-sensitive investments to the forefront.
PLANSPONSOR.COM October - November 2022 19
http://www.PLANSPONSOR.COM PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022INSIGHTSINDUSTRY ANALYSISRULES & REGULATIONSUPFRONTDeep DiveManaging VolatilityNew SolutionsParticipant ESG DemandsGood PracticesFIDUCIARY FORUMINSIDE ANGLEPLAN PROFILEPLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - Cover1PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - Cover2PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 1PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - INSIGHTSPLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 3PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - RULES & REGULATIONSPLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 5PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 6PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 7PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 8PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 9PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - UPFRONTPLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 11PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 12PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 13PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 14PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 15PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - Deep DivePLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 17PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 18PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 19PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 20PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 21PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 22PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 23PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 24PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 25PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - Managing VolatilityPLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 27PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 28PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 29PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - New SolutionsPLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 31PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 32PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 33PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - Participant ESG DemandsPLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 35PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - Good PracticesPLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - 37PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - FIDUCIARY FORUMPLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - INSIDE ANGLEPLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - PLAN PROFILEPLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - Cover3PLANSPONSOR - October-November 2022 - Cover4https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/october_november_2022https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/august_september_2022https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/june_july_2022https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/excellenceawards_2022https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/april_may_2022https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/february_march_2022https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/december_2021_january_2022https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/october_november_2021https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/august_september_2021https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/june_july_2021https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/april-may_2021https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/february-march_2021https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/december-january_2021https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/october-november_2020https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/august-september_2020https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/june-july_2020https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/april-may_2020https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/february-march_2020https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/december-january_2020https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/october-november_2019https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/august-september_2019https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/june-july_2019https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/april-may_2019https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/february-march_2019https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/december_2018-january_2019https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/october-november_2018https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/august-september_2018https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/june-july_2018https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/april-may_2018https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/february-march_2018https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/december_2017-january_2018https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/november_december_2017https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/october_2017https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/september_2017https://www.nxtbookmedia.com


Like fossil fuels, phosphate is a limited resource we mine from the ground. Nobody knows when “peak phosphate” will come, but as we run out, fertilizer and food prices will skyrocket without a sustainable alternative.
We waste what little we have.
After we eat it in our food, the phosphate we laboriously mine is washed out to sea, polluting our rivers by promoting harmful algal blooms that block sunlight and reduce oxygen levels, killing invertebrates and fish.
But what if we were to close the loop on our phosphate use, capturing our unnecessary waste and feeding it back into agriculture?


As the US warms up to the idea of a CBDC, banks, and fintech firms are not thrilled about being potentially left out.
Wall Street firms are not thrilled about the US’ rumored upcoming CBDC, a Bloomberg report has revealed. Financial institutions and fintech firms are concerned regarding the implications a central bank-issued token could have on their bottom line.
For instance, Mastercard and Visa currently act as intermediaries between merchants and consumers. With a CBDC system, the role of intermediaries would be severely diminished or even eliminated. On the other hand, banks could be edged out of their roles as financial services providers if the Federal Reserve steps in.
Digital Dollar Prototypes Currently in Development
Additionally, according to the Boston Fed’s Senior VP of Payments, James Cunha, research is currently underway to explore the viability of a digital dollar. This study’s results, conducted in conjunction with MIT, will be revealed as early as July this year.
Still, it’s unlikely that any of these prototypes would be ready for mass deployment shortly. Cunha further admitted that a policy debate between the Fed, Congress, and Treasury could result in years of delay.
Furthermore, it appears that the digital dollar may have another naysayer to contend with: the American Bankers Association. According to many at the ABA, the digital dollar could set back the US’ payment system by several years instead of catapulting it ahead. The organization is currently lobbying against the technology and cautioning the public against a Federal Reserve “deposit monopoly.”
Rumors involving a Federal Reserve-backed cryptocurrency have been around for several years now. In that time, several other countries have already unveiled plans for their own digital currency. Still, sentiment surrounding cryptocurrency seems positive in the US — especially with tech giants such as Tesla buying in.